Ventilator and combined ventilator and refrigerator-car



(No Model.)

E. T. EARL.

VENTILATOR AND COMBINED VENTILATOR AND REFRIGERATOR GAR. N0.; 46B}6'15Q} v Patented Dec. 22, 1891.

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SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 465,615, dated December 22, 1891.

Application filed December 22, 1890. Serial No. 375,419. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWIN T. EARL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new and useful Ventilator and Combined Ventilator and RefrigeratonCaigof which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a top view of a railroad-car provided with my invention as it appears when the ventilators are closed. Fig. 2 is a perspective front view of the ventilator erect or open. Fig. 3 shows the ventilator-cover thrown back to allow free access to the icebox. Fig. eshows the cover, side wings, and screen folded preliminary to closing the ventilator.

My invention comprises certain improvements in ventilating apparatus and also the combination of such apparatus with a railroad-car or like receptacle for perishable articles.

My folding ventilator may be applied to ordinary doors attached to the openings in cars, buildings, or vessels. It is designed especially for application to the ice-l1ole doors of refrigerator-cars. All refrigerator-cars are constructed with ice-holes in the roof, through which ice is placed in the ice-tanks of the cars. These ice-tanks open into the interior of the cars, and the ice-holes are always closed with an ordinary door, which is generally hinged to the roof. side plug, which, when my folding ventilator is used, may be removed and placed inside the car near the side doors, to be replaced in the ice-holes when it is necessary to close them and insulate the car.

Refrigeratorcars are constructed with heavy walls, and therefore the contents are well protected from cold weather. As refrigerator-cars are now constructed they may be used as Winter cars by simply closing theicehole doors and the side'doors, or they may be used as summer cars by charging the icetanks with ice, and thus keeping the contents cool.

My folding ventilator, when applied to the ice-hole doors of refrigerator-cars, will make these cars available as ventilated cars, and will enable the shipper to use the car on the Sometimes there is an insame trip not only as an insulated car to protect the contents from damage by cold weather or as a refrigerator-car with the ice-tanks charged with ice to protect the contents from heating, but will also enable the shipper to use it simply as a ventilated car. The folding ventilator will therefore be particularly desirable in the transportation of California oranges, 850., during the winter months,when it is necessary to use a car which will provide ventilation a portion of the distance through the warm climate through which the car passes during the first few days of the journey. After it reaches the cold climate, which is found a few hundred miles east of California, then my folding ventilator may be folded together and the ice-hole doors securely closed to keep out the cold air, and from that time on the car is an insulated car and the contents are thoroughly protected from injury by cold weather. Later in the season, when the weather is warmer east, refrigerator-cars with my folding ventilator attachment maybe used simply as ventilated cars to destination. This will avoid the necessity of providing a different kind of a car to be used as a ventilated car in the spring of the year and will enable the railroad transportation companies to use their refrigerator-cars from the beginning to the end of the season, which is not possible as they are now constructed, since there is no device whereby a thorough circulation of air can be provided.

The roofs of refrigerator-cars are ordinarily provided with one or more ice-holes at each end.

My folding ventilator may be applied to the outside ice-hole door of any refrigerator-car. \Vhen so applied, my folding ventilator comprises the outside ice-hole door partially Opened toward the end of the car at an angle of about forty-five degrees, the opening thus formed being inclosed on each side by a wing formed of a piece of galvanized sheet-iron or other material, extending from the under side of the ice-hole door to the top of the car on each side of the ice-hole. At the front end of the car these side pieces or wings, together with the outside door of the ice-hole, form a scoop which catches the air at the front end 5 the car when it is in motion.

In practice the ice-hole doors at the front and rear ends of the car are open with my ventilator attached, the front ones to receive the air and force it into the car and the rear ones to permit an exit for the air after it has passed through the car. The front of the opening formed by the outside ice-hole door and the two side pieces above referred to is screened, so that cinders and sparks cannot enter the ice-hole and cause damage to the contents of the car by fire. This screen is fastened by hinges to the under surface of the lid or door of the ice-hole about ten inches back from the front edge, and when the ventilator is open is fastened to a staple in the roof of the car on the outside of the ice-hole, which staple is also used to fasten the outside ice-hole door when the ice-hole is closed. The cinders and sparks, striking against the wire screen, will be arrested from enteringthe car and will fall outside the ice-holes.

A feature of my invention consists in having the side pieces, the combination of which with the lid form the scoop, fastened to the under face of the ice-hole door by hinges, and the screen which extends across the mouth of the scoop is also fastened to the under face of the ice-hole door by hinges, so that when the ventilator is not used the side pieces and the end screen can. be folded down and fastened to the under surface of the ice-hole door, and the door can then be closed and the car thoroughly insulated. The same device may be applied to the hatches of a vessel or to openings in the roof of a building, and when not required for ventilation can be folded together and the door to such openings securely closed This folding ventilator is particularly valuable in connection with refrigerator-cars, as by applying the same to the ice-hole doors refrigerator-cars may betransformedintoventilated cars without great expense and in athoroughly practical manner. As no such device has ever been applied to ice-hole doors of refrigeratorcars, I wish the patent to cover any similar device which may be applied to ice-hole doors, whereby the refrigerator-car is transformed into a ventilated car. The application of the side pieces and the screen may be made differently, and at the same time the idea will be the same, and the refrigerator-car may be transformed into a ventilated car by other contrivances covering the ice-holes, either with or without using the outside ice-hole doors.

In the drawings, A represents the roof or top of a car provided with the opening or icehole B and with the raised cleat-fraine 0 surrounding the opening or ice-hole. The lid or cover D is hinged to the roof or top of the car through the medium of the hinge-cleat E, and is provided on the inner side upon all but the hinged edge with the face-flanges F, arranged to fit the cleat-frame. The inside front and rear hinge-cleats G H are secured to the lid with a space between them to receive the screw. The rearwardly-tapering side wings I J are hinged to the under face of the lid through the medium of the hinge-cleats G H, and the screen K is hinged to the front end inside of the under face of the lid through the medium of the hinge-cleat G.

To open the ventilator the front end of the lid is raised and the side wings I J and the screen are unfolded and adjusted to rest upon the top of the car. The tapering side wings are arranged to fit within the cleat-frame and the screen is arranged to fit between them and to slant forward to rest upon the top of the car. The screen is hinged to the lid at such a distance from the front end of the lid as to provide for a projecting ledge or hood d in front of the screen, and the sidewings I J are of such length as to projectin front of the screen at the sides thereof to form a kind of funnel to direct the air into the ventilator. The tapering side wings are respectively provided with the notch or recess a at theirlower front corners to fit upon the front member 0 of the cleat-frame. The screen is provided with suitable ineans-such as the hook ffor fastening its lower end to the car by staple b. The lid is also provided with means for fastening it to the car, such as the hook g, arranged to hook into the staple 1), arranged to receive the hook f. When the wings and screen are in place, as shown in Fig. 2, to form the venti lator, the whole may be securely locked, if desired. In such case a hasp is used in place of the hook.

By the arrangement shown-I avoid all danger of clogging the ventilator by reason of the cinders, the inclined screen causing them to slide down and be discharged outside of the ventilator;

When the wings are folded upon the screen, they are secured to each other by suitable means, such as the hook h and staple v and a channel Z is formed between the face-flange F and the folded screen and wings to chamber the cleat-frame 0 when the lid is closed,

thus making a tight joint to exclude the air."

It is to be understood that I do not limit my claim to the specific form shown.

Now having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a car-ventilator, the combination, with the lid hinged at one end, of the screen hinged to the opposite end of the lid and the wings hinged to the lid near its side edges.

2. In a car-ventilator, the combination, with the lid hinged at one end, of the screen hinged to the opposite end of the lid and the wings hinged to the lid near its side edges, said wings tapering, as shown, and provided with notches at their larger ends, substantially as set forth.

8. In combination with a car provided with openings in its roof and with hinged lids adapted to cover the openings, the side wings hinged to the lids near the side edges of the latter, said wings tapering toward the middle of the car, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In combination with a car provided With openings in its roof and with hinged lids adapted to cover the openings, the side wings hinged to the lids near the side edges of the latter, and the screens hinged to the free ends of the lids, all substantially as shown and described.

5. The combination of the roof provided with the opening, the raised cleats-frame surrounding the opening, the raised hinge-cleat, the lid hinged to the roof and provided With i EDWIN T. EARL.

Witnesses:

ALFRED I. TOWNSEND, M. C. GALER. 

